Return
by 3LW00D
Summary: After Nemesis, Q sends the now scattered command crew of the Enterprise-D back to the middle of WWll, to prevent a tragedy that may change the course of history, and cause the Federation to never exist.


_This is my second Star Trek fic. Conciderably longer than my first one it is much more complicated. As I do not have a beta reader if anyone notices any mistakes I would be much gratified if they are pointed out so that they can be corrected. (On a side note, Trek Phan has offered to Beta Read the coming chapters, this one however had not been gone over and there are mistakes) _

_As usual, sit back and enjoy the ride!_

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own Star Trek, though I do have a few of the toys, does that count?_

The last shimmer of the transporter faded away into nothing. "Good-bye Captain." The Commander whispered. He then stood up and turned to face the weapon that he had come to the Romulan ship to destroy. The crew was safe, the captain was safe. Now it was a matter of making sure that they stayed that way. And there was only one way to do that. The officer pulled out his phaser and leveled it at the super weapon, and pulled the trigger. Instantly the whole bridge was filled with light and sound. It overloaded the officer's senses. Within even a hundredth of a second, the ship was nothing but a rapidly expanding ball of atoms, and all who were on board with it.

Back at the Enterprise the remaining crew and officers watched the beautiful and heart-wrenching display. Their officer, and their friend, had just saved all their lives, but at the cost of his own it had seemed.

OoOoOoOo

Q watched the skies. He was on one of his favorite vacation planets, Earth. After spending so much time harassing Captain Picard and his crew he had taken up doing the same for many people on Earth, mainly in the past where things such as apples dropping on Isaac Newton's head could be allotted to gravity instead of his doing. Looking up he sensed the explosion of the _Scimitar. _He took a few moments to observe the explosion, and learned that Commander Data was killed in the line of duty. "No", Q mused to himself, "This won't do at all; I still have plans for you Mr. Data. Although…this just may work to my advantage…yes…this should work out well indeed…" He smiled to himself; it was time to pay Mr. Data a little visit.

OoOoOoOo

When the _Scimitar_ exploded, Data fully expected to join it in oblivion, what he didn't expect was to be jerked off the bridge and find himself on a seemingly deserted planet. It was nothing but dry brown sand as far as he could see. Hanging in the sky was an ancient sun. It was bloated and dark orange, almost red. The orb was so large and close to the planet that it seemed it would strike the surface at any moment.

Data turned full circle to take in his surroundings. Logic told him that this place was not real, that his optical sensors were deceiving him, yet, it seemed real enough. A dry breeze blew up a small dust twister at his feet. Data watched it blow away. When it finally dispersed Q stood in front of the android, with a conceited smirk on his face.

"I have a proposition for you Mr. Data," Q stated getting right to the point, he stepped right up close to the officer. He was wearing his usual guise of a Starfleet Captain's uniform.

Data cocked his head. It made sense that Q should be here. Q was usually behind strange happenings such as his current situation. He looked Q up and down, searching for some hint of deception. "Did you prevent me from completing my mission?"

"No, no of course not! The _Scimitar_ is a lovely star in the night sky, and you along with it. This is simply suspended animation. Nothing here is real; it's a little something _I_ created. Genius isn't it? Now, since I have so graciously allowed you to complete your little hero act, I need you to do something for me."

Data stood at attention, the way he always had when Captain Picard assigned him and the rest of the away team a mission. "What could I possibly do for you Q? If what you say is true; I am, in a sense…dead."

"True", he nodded, "but you can still be of assistance to me, and the Federation. You see, while you may have stopped Shinzon and his little crew of miscreants, there are still others who are in a position to destroy the Federation." He pointed at Data, "That's where you come in."

He now had Data's complete attention.

"You want to see your friends again, don't you? Well I have a way that you can. All you have to do, is this one little mission for me."

Data considered Q's proposition, he didn't have anything to lose, and if it would help keep his friends safe…"What do you want me to do?"

Q smiled again, "That is exactly what I wanted to here."

While Data listened, entranced, Q outlined his, if not wholly logical, at least, theatrical, plan. "Oh, and did I mention you were going to be having help in all this?" with a snap of his fingers Q revealed who was to be Data's partner.

"Hello Brother." Before both beings, stood Lore, rebuilt, online, and for once, not smirking.

Data took an involuntary step back, hands up in front of him he turned an accusing glare on the omnipotent being.

Lore took a few tentative steps towards his younger brother, "It's okay. I really am here to help." He held out his hands palm up in the universal gesture for 'I come in peace'. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused, so, I want to help. It's the least I can do."

Q decided to explain, "Your…creator," he said after a moments deliberation over the correct term, " Dr. Soong, had mentioned that Lore was emotionally unstable, so, I stabilized him. Lore is now one-hundred percent fixed. So, what do ya say Data? You two ready to take on another adventure?" Without giving either of them a chance to say ye or nay Q snapped his fingers once again and sent both of the Soong Brothers off to carry out the first half of his plan.

Q then turned his attention to a certain Federation Starship; the next phase was coming very, very soon.

OoOoOoOoOo

It was nearly two years after the destruction of the _Scimitar_. Captain Picard now had a third _Enterprise_ under his command and a new crew. Most of the original _Enterprise_ command staff had moved on, it seemed like the very thing that held them all together had left after Data died.

Doctor Crusher was on Earth as a medical officer at the Starfleet Academy. Riker was now the captain if the _Titan_ and Troi had gone with him, but that in itself was not a surprise. Geordi had claimed that he just couldn't stand the memories. He had requested a transfer soon after the _Enterprise_ had limped back to space-dock. And he had taken Reggie Barclay with him, the last Captain Picard had heard of those two they were keeping busy designing ships.

Worf had gone back to _Deep Space Nine_, that wasn't a surprise either; he had been recalled by the commander of the space station requesting his return to assist in putting everything back in order. It was now just Picard, and the few crew members who had stayed, but not his command staff.

Commander Martin Madden was the new First Officer. After a rocky start where Riker had tricked him into addressing the Captain by first name they had gotten along okay.

Picard was sitting at his desk looking through an antique style photo album; it contained pictures of his brother and nephew from before the fire. Lying next to it was a holo of the crew of the Enterprise-D; it was taken just after the Farpoint mission. He turned his attention from the album to the holo for a moment. Each of the command staff was goofing off in some way, except Data of course. So full of themselves he hadn't been able to get them to take a good holo. Riker and Geordi had been too busy telling jokes, something about clowns and Ferengi in gorilla suits.

The door to his office chimed, "Come in." Rather than one of the new command staff entering, or even Guinan, who had taken to popping in at moments to check up on him, a flash of light announced the presence of Q.

"Jean-Luc, old friend! How nice to see you again!" Q spread his arms wide as if to take the captain into an embrace. "It's been too long! How are you?" He sat cross-legged on Picard's desk like he owned it.

Had he not been Captain, Picard felt he would have slammed his head down on the desk. A visit from Q was the last thing he wanted. Besides being a painful reminder of the days that he and his crew had been explorers, Q was a nuisance.

"You disappear for years, and then show up now, why? And if you don't have a good answer, get out! As a matter of fact, get out anyway!" Picard was almost red in the face. Standing up he had both hands on his desk, all the better to keep him from trying to strangle Q.

"Temper temper Jean-Luc, it's not becoming of a Captain, well, maybe it is for a Klingon, but not Starfleet." He stood up and wandered out of arm's reach. "Tell me Jean-Luc, how have things been between the Star Empire and Starfleet after Shinzon. Calmed down any?" His voice was dripping with innocence, too much innocence.

Curious now, Picard walked around to the other side of the desk. "What do you know about the Romulan Star Empire?"

"Me?" Q pointed to himself.

"Yes you Dammit! You wouldn't be here if you didn't know something. What is it?"

"Oh, nothing of importance. Just that the safety of the whole Federation hangs in the balance. And only the crew of a certain ship can save it, with the help of two old friends…"

"What? Safety of the- old friends? Q, what are you playing at?"

"That would be telling", Q explained with a wide grin, "Good-bye Mon-Captain." And with that, Q vanished.

As soon as he was gone the door to Picard's office slid open to reveal Ensign Branson, temporary communications Officer, as Lt Hawk was in sickbay. Branson saluted, "Captain, there is an incoming communication from Starfleet HQ; you are needed on the bridge."

"Thank you ensign, but, why didn't you just call me over the com?"

"Communications with your office was blocked sir. Engineering has been contacted to correct the problem."

Picard frowned, why would communications have been blocked? He addressed the computer, "Picard to bridge."

Satisfyingly the voice of Madden came over the com in his office, _"Yes Captain?"_

"Commander, can you pipe the communication from Starfleet to my office?"

"_Right away sir. Madden out."_

Picard looked at the Ensign standing in his doorway, the young man shrugged.

The small computer screen on the desk changed from displaying the Starfleet symbol to the face of Admiral Janeway. _"Captain Picard."_ She said by way of greeting.

"Admiral." He nodded.

"_I am sorry if I have interrupted something of importance, but there is problem at the Neutral Zone."_

"And you wish for me to look into it?"

"_No."_ Her tone was sharp,_ "Command believes you to be compromised in this issue because of Shinzon's coup and the loss of Commander Data. Rather,"_ She held up her hand to stop any comments Picard might make, _"We are sending you on a diplomatic mission to transport a Klingon Ambassador. The warp drive on his ship has been damaged. Your job is to fix the problem and if need be to transport the Ambassador wherever he needs to go. I am now transmitting coordinates."_

Picard was thoroughly confused, "Admiral, if you do not want me and my crew to assist in the trouble than why did you tell me about it?"

"_Because,"_ here she smiled, _"Something tells me that you would have figured it out anyway and ignored orders. This way is easier for the both of us. Janeway out." _His screen once again returned to a blue background with the Starfleet symbol innocently rotating in the center. For a moment he simply stared at it, then he stood up, "Picard to bridge."

"_Yes captain?"_ it was the voice of his new First Officer.

"Commander, did you by any chance get coordinates to pick up a Klingon Ambassador whose warp drive malfunctioned?"

There was a pause as they checked logs and transmissions, _"Yes captain, it is the USS Valiant, serial number NXC- 1122. It was just commissioned earlier this year. Transmission reports that several officers of importance are aboard the ship. We are to make all haste."_

"Very well then, lay in a course, set speed for warp factor seven." With that he stood up to make his way to the bridge.

Upon Picard's entering, every head in the room turned to watch. After listening to the conversation the bridge crew was interesting in what was going on. With a sigh he moved to his chair, which Madden hurriedly vacated. "Helm, what is our ETA?"

"One half hour at present speed."

"Good, we can't keep them waiting." Nervously he tugged down on his jacket. First Q showed up, and then he got a transmission from Janeway both telling him to avoid the Neutral Zone, and at the same time inviting him to go there, something was not right…"Madden, I would like to speak to you in my ready room please."

With a nod his FO left his current position of reading over the Science Officer's shoulder, and followed. "Is something wrong sir?"

Picard waved him off, telling him to wait until they were alone. As soon as the door has closed Picard began speaking. "What do you know about a being that calls himself Q?"

Madden answered without hesitation, "Q is an omnipotent being who is a member of the Q Continuum. He is known as a cosmic trickster. And, he seemed to have taking a liking to your ship and crew." He continued smugly, "All Starfleet commanders are briefed on the Q and how to handle the situation if one is to…pop in, so to speak."

"Well, yes." Picard was quite taken aback that Starfleet had started briefing its officers on the Q, "That is true. Well, I wanted you to know that I have just been paid a 'visit' by Q. He mentioned a threat to the Federation, and that we and 'two old friends' would be instrumental in saving it."

Madden's jaw dropped open, "So…what are we going to do about it?"

"_We_ are not going to do anything. Not yet anyway. We have been ordered to assist this Klingon ambassador. Then, maybe, we shall look into this cryptic message from Q. Until then, we wait."

Madden nodded. "Understood." He executed a sharp salute, turned on his heel, and left.

Left alone in his office once more Picard sighed and slumped in his chair. He dozed off and the next thing that he knew the com unit on his private computer was chiming, _"Captain to the bridge. We have arrived at the coordinates for the stranded Klingon vessel."_

"On my way Number One." Halfway to the door Picard stopped, he never called Madden by Will's nickname. Thinking about it, he couldn't even remember the last time he had called his old first officer that, when was the last time he had even seen or spoken to any of his old crew?

Entering the bridge he stopped to stand in front of the main view screen. At the moment it showed the emptiness of space broken by a rather small vessel. Starfleet in origin it was marked with the symbol for the Klingon home world. "Open hailing frequencies."

"Aye Sir", responded one of the officers. "Hailing frequencies open."

"This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the _USS Enterprise_."

"_Captain, so glad you could join us. As you can tell we have a bit of a problem here, if you wouldn't mind sending over an engineer or two…"_

Confused, Picard looked at Madden who shrugged and looked at the Communications Officer. Not getting an answer there, Picard addressed the screen again, "Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

"_Geordi La Forge, at your service, Captain." _Picard could have sworn he heard someone else in the background as well, laughing.

There was silence on the bridge of the Enterprise.

"Well, Mr. La Forge…what a… pleasant surprise. We shall beam a team of engineers over immediately."

"_Thank you captain. Sorry we're unable to have visual communication, for some reason most of the ship's systems are down. But with the team you're sending over I am _sure _we will get everything up and running again._

Picard nodded, "Forgive me for asking but…I was informed this would be a Klingon ambassador's ship. Don't tell me you're an ambassador now."

"_I'm not", Geordi laughed, "Worf is. At least, as our cover anyway."_

Picard frowned, "Mr. La Forge, I think we should have a little talk."

"_You got that right, Captain."_

OoOoOoOo

Within moments Geordi was sitting in a chair in Captain Picard's ready room. Picard stood at the head of the table and to his right was Madden. Most of the chairs were occupied by familiar faces. Those that weren't were hauntingly empty. Geordi had brought with him both Worf and Doctor Crusher.

Looking around the table each of the visitors couldn't help but remember the years that they had been explorers, searching for strange new worlds and new life forms. And it was one of those life forms that they had encountered that was the reason they were all there.

"So you're telling me that Q visited each of you, told you to come out here looking for me, and then for all of us to go to the Neutral Zone? That's a little extravagant even for him."

"As far-fetched as it sounds that _is_ the truth."

"Oh I'm not doubting you Doctor. I am just trying to figure it out, you see, I was visited by Q moments before receiving a transmission from Admiral Janeway ordering us to come out and rescue a ship transporting a Klingon Ambassador. And that ship turned out to be crewed by some of my old Command Staff using that same story of a Klingon Ambassador as a cover. Seems to me that something is going on here."

Everyone nodded.

"Excuse me, um, Captain."

"Yes Commander Madden?"

"I do not have a whole lot of experience with these kinds of things, but…from what I've heard… when things like this happen…that usually means that something big is coming. Maybe we should listen to this Q and go to the Neutral Zone and see what's going on there."

"I do believe that is the best choice." Stated Worf. "If Q were simply toying with us, so to speak, I do not believe that he would have gone through all the trouble to get us in the same place at the same time."

"But that's just it!" Protested Madden, "Not everyone is here. Captain Riker, I mean Troi, his wife …and…Commander Data, are all missing."

Geordi looked sadly at the chair normally occupied by his friend. "Madden does have a point. If Q had some crazy mission in store for all of us, he would have made sure the _whole_ _Enterprise_ crew were involved, not just half of us."

Not a single person spoke, for many minutes each of the officers were deep in thought. An unexpected chine and then an announcement from the bridge jerked them all back to reality,_ "Captain, a ship has entered the vicinity." _There was a pause_, "Captain, it's the _Titan_." _

"Well, I think we have our answer to that question. Let's go greet Captain Troi. Maybe then we'll start getting some answers to what is going on." Picard stood up and led the way from his ready room.

Once one the bridge, Picard almost collapsed into his command chair. Madden took his seat to the left. After looking around, Geordi and the rest of previous command crew found empty seats in which to park themselves.

"Has the _Titan_ attempted to hail us?"

"No sir," Responded the Jr. Lieutenant at the communications console. "Do you wish the hail them?"

"Yes. On screen."

Within moments the forward screen on the Enterprise showed the bridge of the Titan. Captain Troi stood up from his seat in the center of the bridge to greet Picard.

"_Captain Picard. I wish I could say I am surprised to see you here…but I'm not." _He smiled.

"Ah, so in that case I take it that you've had a visit from Q as well?" He leaned back in his chair, mind racing to find some solution to what it was that Q had planned for them all.

"_Yes, I have. I wasn't able to get much information other than I was to be here, at this time. And that I would run into a certain star ship."_

"Captain, I think maybe we should meet, all of us, and discus this."

Troi nodded, then stopped and asked in surprise, _"All of us? Who else is there with you?"_

Picard signaled for Will's view of the bridge to widen so he could see the guests. _"Wow, you guys having a party? We'll be right over."_

Nobody on the _Enterprise _asked who we meant would be coming with him. It only made sense for Deana to come with as she was also a former _Enterprise_ crew member, not to mention his wife.

Once again everyone was packed into the conference room. "It seems that we have all been told the same thing. Something big is going to threaten the whole Federation, and only we, plus two friends, will be able to stop it. What we need to figure out is; is this some new game orchestrated by Q for his amusement, or is something really coming."

The assembled nodded. Most of the former command staff was eager to begin whatever it was Q had planned, ever since the Enterprise had been re-assigned as a diplomatic ship rather than exploration their lives had been pretty dull.

"Ah, so everyone is here now! Good, we can begin the meeting!" A flash of light announced the presence of Q, the master mind behind the confusion. He appeared at the head of the council table, having moved Picard to the other end. Rather than his usual guise of a Starfleet Captain, Q had upgraded to Admiral.

"I trust that you are all wondering why I have brought you here today. Well, I shall not tell you the whole story. That would take away from the fun." He pouted like a child, "instead I will only tell you the 'need-to-know'."

"And that would be?" Picard was fast running out of patience.

"Oh, you're no fun! I was getting to that."

The rest of the former crew were also looking impatient, Madden on the other hand, was wide-eyed and gawking at the omnipotent being who had come out of nowhere.

Q continued on with his 'briefing', "When you get when you are going-"

"Don't you mean 'where'?" Doctor Crusher cut in.

"No, I mean when. Now, when you arrive there will be two people you need to look for. Their names are Carlos and Jayden. Have fun!" With a wave of his hand, Q, and every other person in the room, vanished.

OoOoOoOoOo

When the Enterprise disappeared Doctor Crusher found herself almost instantly standing in the middle of an empty field. She found that she was no longer wearing her Starfleet uniform, but a dark green uniform that had a patch with the symbol of a red cross on a white field. To her the gravity felt Earth-normal, and the atmosphere was breathable, a little smoky, but safe.

She heard loud explosions to her left and turning in that direction she saw groups of men running across a field. A smaller series of explosions went off and several of the men clutched at their chests or other parts of their bodies and fell down. She sucked in a breath and her right hand flew to cover her mouth, "My goodness…Q put me in the middle of a war zone…" Without a second thought she started running towards the nearest group of men.

Reaching one she saw that he had been shot in the leg by a primitive projectile weapon. She crouched next to the man and searched him for a field med kit. She found it in a pouch he was wearing on his belt. When he saw her, the young man gave a start and tried to sit up. Doctor Crusher pushed him back down. "Don't try to move until I get you patched up. I am a trained medical officer." She looked at his uniform for some sign of whom he was and who he was with. Surprised she noticed that he was wearing an American Flag on his left shoulder. The young man took no notice of her confusion. His eyes were tightly closed as he attempted not to cry out in pain. He had been trained to make no noise, to do so would attract the enemies' attention.

After she had finished bandaging his leg she left the soldier to help someone else. After what felt like ages the explosions died down as the sun shrank over the horizon and men appeared on the field looking for the wounded, or the dead.

One young soldier, she guessed that he must have been only twenty or so, approached her while she was patching up what she supposed must have been one of his comrades. The soldier came up quietly on her left, gun held at the ready at the sight of someone he didn't know.

She sensed more than felt his weapon pointed at her head as he questioned her, "Who are you, and what side are you on?"

Slowly she moved her hands into a position where he could see them, "My name is Doctor Beverly Crusher, and I'm with the Americans. Who are you?"

Slowly the young man moved his gun away, "Sergeant Linden with the 101st Airborne Division. What are you doing out here? I thought that women had been instructed to stay at the base."

To Doctor Crusher he didn't sound confused at all, more amused than anything, "It's a long story. I got separated from my people. I was told, by my higher-ups, that when I got here I was to locate two people by the names of Carlos and Jayden."

The young man smiled, it was a self-assured cocky smile that she was sure she had seen somewhere before, but with his helmet and other equipment she was unable to see his face clearly. "Well you found one of us, I'm Carlos. Sergeant Carlos Lindan, at your service. Jayden is my younger brother. But we can talk more later. Help me get Josh here on his feet and let's get back to the base." Reaching out a hand, Carlos pulled first Doctor Crusher, and then Josh to their feet.

With Carlos holding Josh on one side and Crusher on the other they were able to make it back to the base. It was completely underground. But rather than just long trenches as she had expected, there were lights, and even computers. Something wasn't right.

"Carlos, what year is it?"

After giving her a bemused look he slowly answered, "1942. It's the Second World War."

Doctor Crusher looked at his uniform again, and at the base, but mostly she looked at the weapons and other technology. That was what was wrong. The technology was far too advanced to be from this era. She decided that the best course of action would be to find the rest of the crew, and then figure out why things had changed.

"Carlos, I need to find my team, do you know where they might be?"

Before he could answer Josh, who had been flirting with Beverly most of the way back, spoke up. "The best thing to do is check with the Saw Bones, if they haven't seen them than maybe they were taken to the Commander's office, or-" He didn't finish the sentence as Carlos had clamped his hand over Josh's mouth.

"Not to worry Beverly, we'll find them. But first, we should check with the medics, let's get Josh there so he'll finally shut up."

"Oh come on," complained their companion, "you wouldn't be so rude if Data were here."

At the name Doctor Crusher stopped walking and her eyes widened "Data?"

Carlos caught her stunned look, "My brother, Jayden. He's a math whiz; they call him Data as a nickname." Then he whispered in her ear, "We'll talk about this later, ok? Now is _really not_ the time."

Dumbly, Doctor Crusher nodded and continued walking.

Upon entering the Medical wing they were met by a flurry of activity. Nurses and doctors ran every which way treating patients from the day's skirmish. It was a challenge in itself to walk through the room. Locating a vacant bed they laid Josh down on it. Soon a nurse made her way over to assist. Seeing the symbol on Crusher's arm she quickly set her to work fetching bandages and antibiotics and helping out in other ways. It was some time before Carlos was able to pull her away.

Grabbing her arm the soldier drug Beverly through the fray and out into a corridor, "I found where your friends are, now c'mon." He hurried with her down the hall, mumbling apologies to the other nurses and personnel they ran into. "You're friends were found scattered across the field. None of them were injured so they weren't brought here. They were given a room to themselves until everything gets worked out."

He led her down several hallways, each of them a maze until they got to what seemed to be the living area of the base where most of the personnel was housed. "Just a little further." He said when he noticed Doctor Crusher lagging a little bit behind. "You can sit down when we get there."

After a turn down one more hallway he stopped in front of a room. "Here we are, now it's not the Ramada Inn for sure, but it's ok." He smiled again, I'll be right back, I have to go find someone first." With that he turned and jogged off.

Beverly watched him leave for a moment before opening the door; she was becoming more and more sure that she knew the young man from somewhere. The room was a decent size, large enough to comfortably hold all the people present. Captain Picard, who had been standing in a corner, jerked up, and walked over. His eyes widened upon seeing all the blood splatters on her uniform, "You're alright? You didn't get hurt did you?"

"No I'm fine. A soldier found me, and brought me to the base. His name is Carlos; I had patched up one of his friends and then helped the medical personnel. His brother is Jayden, the other contact. He said that he had to go locate someone, so, I'm going to guess that would be Jayden."

Picard nodded. Then, seeing that Beverly was almost swaying on her feet he helped her to sit down.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I was down in the medical wing helping patch up the soldiers. I guess I must have been there longer than I though."

"Speaking of the soldier," spoke up Geordi, "Has anyone else noticed anything a little weird here?"

"If you mean how the technology is significantly advanced for this time then yes." Said Captain Troi.

"But," Asked Councilor Deana "is that because we are here and so the timeline has altered, or is it because of something else, and that is what Q wants us to fix?"

"All good questions I'm sure."

Everyone turned to the sound of the voice. It was Carlos. He was leaning against the side of the door-way having returned unnoticed by the _Enterprise _and_ Titan_ crews.

"How long have you been standing there?" Demanded Picard.

"Long enough." Looking at him now it was hard to recognize Carlos as the same happy-go-lucky soldier Doctor Crusher has seen before. He was more serious, as if acting in the military was simply a side job, something he did for recreation, and that whatever was going in the room was more worth his time. He had removed his helmet and other heavy equipment. Now that she was able to see his face, Doctor Crusher was certain she had seen him before. "But, he continued, it wasn't anything I didn't already know. "

"Oh? Asked Captain Troi, "And what could you possibly know."

"That for one thing, Q has a love for the theatrics."

Councilor Troi moved closer to Carlos, "His mind is familiar…but…it is hard to tell."

"Look, I've had enough games. How about you tell me, us, how you got here. And we'll tell you what the mission is."

"Us?" Picard had had enough of the games as well.

"Yeah, my brother and I." He turned to the door and waved for another soldier, who had been standing just outside unnoticed, to come in.

The young man who entered was almost identical to Carlos. The only real difference was that he was of slighter build. They both had dark hair, almost black, but it was hard to tell with the crew cuts they both sported. But while Carlos was cocky, almost arrogant, his brother was much softer spoken. But that didn't take away from his energy.

When he entered he seemed like a coiled spring, Councilor Troi was almost overwhelmed with the excitement that he was radiating, and recognition. His gaze took in every person in the room, except Madden, and he knew them.

"Captain Picard", he said executing a smart salute. "I do apologize for my tardiness, I had to take care of business, otherwise I would have gotten here sooner to explain." He smiled almost sheepishly.

There was silence from the _Enterprise_ and _Titan_ crews, his statement had gone right over everyone's heads. Geordi was looking intently at the two soldiers attempting to piece together how they knew everyone.

Jayden caught him staring and looked back with a wide grin.

**A/N** _Ok, so chapter one, kinda long.....hopefully I will get chapter two up fairly soon. _


End file.
